A pattern of left ventricular hypertrophy evident on the electrocardiogram is a harbinger of morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease. Echocardiography permits the noninvasive determination of left ventricular mass and the examination of its role as a precursor of morbidity and mortality. We examined the relation of left ventricular mass to the incidence of cardiovascular disease, mortality from cardiovascular disease, and mortality from all causes in 3220 subjects enrolled in the Framingham Heart Study who were 40 years of age or older and free of clinically apparent cardiovascular disease, in whom left ventricular mass was determined echocardiographically. During a four-year follow-up period, there were 208 incident cardiovascular events, 37 deaths from cardiovascular disease, and 124 deaths from all causes. Left ventricular mass, determined echocardiographically, was associated with all outcome events. This relation persisted after we adjusted for age, diastolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, treatment for hypertension, cigarette smoking, diabetes, obesity, the ratio of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and electrocardiographic evidence of left ventricular hypertrophy. In men, the risk factor-adjusted relative risk of cardiovascular disease was 1.49 for each increment of 50 g per meter in left ventricular mass corrected for the subject's height (95 percent confidence interval, 1.20 to 1.85); in women, it was 1.57 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.20 to 2.04). Left ventricular mass (corrected for height) was also associated with the incidence of death from cardiovascular disease (relative risk, 1.73 [95 percent confidence interval, 1.19 to 2.52] in men and 2.12 [95 percent confidence interval, 1.28 to 3.49] in women). Left ventricular mass (corrected for height) was associated with death from all causes (relative risk, 1.49 [95 percent confidence interval, 1.14 to 1.94] in men and 2.01 [95 percent confidence interval, 1.44 to 2.81] in women). We conclude that the estimation of left ventricular mass by echocardiography offers prognostic information beyond that provided by the evaluation of traditional cardiovascular risk factors. An increase in left ventricular mass predicts a higher incidence of clinical events, including death, attributable to cardiovascular disease.

The British Regional Heart Study (BRHS) reported in 1986 that much of the inverse relation of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) (MRFIT). In CPPT and MRFIT (both randomized trials in middle-aged high-risk men), only the control groups were analyzed. A 1-mg/dl (0.026 mM) increment in HDLC was associated with a significant coronary heart disease risk decrement of 2% in men (FHS, CPPT, and MRFIT) and 3% in women (FHS). In LRCF, where only fatal outcomes were documented, a 1-mg/dl increment in HDLC was associated with significant 3.7% (men) and 4.7% (women) decrements in cardiovascular disease mortality rates. The 95% confidence intervals for these decrements in coronary heart and cardiovascular disease risk in the four studies overlapped considerably, and all contained the range 1.9-2.9%. HDLC levels were essentially unrelated to non-cardiovascular disease mortality. When differences in analytic methodology were eliminated, a consistent inverse relation of HDLC levels and coronary heart disease event rates was apparent in BRHS as well as in the four American studies. (Circulation 1989;79:8-15

The Framingham Heart Study (FHS) was started in 1948 as a prospective investigation of cardiovascular disease in a cohort of adult men and women. Continuous surveillance of this sample of 5209 subjects has been maintained through biennial physical examinations. In 1971 examinations were begun on the children of the FHS cohort. This study, called the Framingham Offspring Study (FOS), was undertaken to expand upon knowledge of cardiovascular disease, particularly in the area of familial clustering of the disease and its risk factors. This report reviews the sampling design of the FHS and describes the nature of the FOS sample. The FOS families appear to be of typical size and age structure for families with parents born in the late 19th or early 20th century. In addition, there is little evidence that coronary heart disease (CHD) experience and CHD risk factors differ in parents of those who volunteered for this study and the parents of those who did not volunteer.

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